Difficult experiences on meditation retreats: what the research shows

Studies of meditation retreats mostly report benefits, and what research says about Vipassana covers that evidence. Intensive meditation can also bring experiences that are hard to live through: fear, the return of painful memories, changes in perception or in the sense of self. Researchers have studied these more closely in the last decade. This article summarises what they found and what course organisers ask of applicants. It describes research; it is not medical advice.

The kinds of experiences reported

A 2017 study in PLoS One by Lindahl, Britton and colleagues, based at Brown University, set out to describe these experiences. The team interviewed 60 Western Buddhist meditators, 20 each from the Theravāda, Zen and Tibetan traditions, and 32 teachers and clinicians. From the interviews they built a list of 59 kinds of meditation-related experience in seven areas:

• cognitive: changes in thinking, memory and decision-making;
• perceptual: changes in sight, hearing and the other senses, such as sensitivity to light or sound;
• affective: changes in emotion, from fear and panic to bliss;
• somatic: bodily changes such as pressure, pain, surges of energy and altered sleep;
• conative: changes in motivation, goals and effort;
• sense of self: for example, the boundary between self and world seeming to blur;
• social: effects on relationships and everyday functioning.

The experiences ranged from very positive to very negative. The distress and impairment linked to them ranged from minimal and short-lived to severe and lasting. In this group, fear, anxiety, panic or paranoia was the most common, reported by 82%, and 43% described re-experiencing traumatic memories. Some described bliss followed by low mood.

Those percentages describe this group only. The study deliberately recruited people who had had difficult experiences, and the authors say plainly that their figures do not show how common such experiences are among meditators in general. It was also not a study of any one course or tradition.

An earlier study asked directly. As summarised by Lindahl and colleagues, Shapiro (1992) found that 63% of meditators on an intensive Vipassana retreat reported at least one adverse effect, and 7.4% reported effects negative enough to stop meditating.

How often they happen

Figures vary a great deal with how researchers ask the question, and with who is asked.

Study	Who was asked	What it found
Farias et al., 2020	Review of 83 studies, 6,703 participants	Overall 8.3% had an adverse event: 3.7% in experimental studies, 33.2% in observational ones. Most common were anxiety, depression and cognitive anomalies.
Schlosser et al., 2019	Online survey of 1,232 regular meditators	25.6% reported particularly unpleasant experiences they thought meditation may have caused.
Goldberg et al., 2022	434 people in a population-based US sample who had meditated	32.3% to 50.0% reported an adverse effect, depending on the question. 10.6% had some loss of functioning; for 1.2% it lasted a month or more.
Britton et al., 2021	96 people in an eight-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy programme (not a retreat)	58% had at least one effect they rated negative, and 37% a negative effect on functioning. Lasting bad effects in 6% to 14%.

Two findings stand out. First, where studies measured how long effects lasted, most were short-lived, but a minority lasted a month or more or interfered with daily life. Second, people are not always put off: in the Goldberg study, those who reported adverse effects were equally glad to have practised as those who did not. Britton and colleagues found rates of distress in their programme similar to those of other psychological treatments.

A counterpoint: a controlled retreat study

Most of the studies above ask people to look back on their practice, and none compares people on a retreat with similar people who stayed at home. A 2024 study by Hadash and colleagues at the University of Haifa did both things differently. It was registered in advance and followed 96 adults on six-day insight (Vipassana) retreats, and 47 matched meditators from the same community who did not attend.

Mostly pleasant "peak experiences", such as deep and unusual peace, were more common on retreat. Mostly unpleasant ones, such as flashbacks or overwhelming sadness, occurred at similar rates in both groups. Two weeks later, participants rated even most of the unpleasant experiences as more helpful than harmful. The authors note that this does not fit the conclusions of uncontrolled, retrospective studies.

It is one study, of six-day retreats, with participants who were already meditators. A study of 96 people cannot say much about rare, severe reactions.

Who may be more at risk

The studies point to a few associations. None of them can predict what will happen to any one person.

• Thinking habits and type of practice: in the Schlosser survey, unpleasant experiences were more often reported by people with more repetitive negative thinking, by people who practised only "deconstructive" methods such as vipassana or insight meditation, and by those who had ever attended a retreat. Women and religious participants reported them less often.
• Childhood adversity: linked to higher risk in the Goldberg study.
• Signs of dysregulated arousal: in the Britton study, lasting bad effects went with hyperarousal and dissociation.
• Personal history and setting: meditators and experts in the Lindahl study pointed to psychiatric and trauma history, intensive practice, and the silence and isolation of retreats as possible risk factors. A supportive teacher and community were often described as a remedy.

History is not everything. The Farias review found that adverse events can occur in people with no previous mental-health problems.

What course organisers ask, and why

Courses in S. N. Goenka's tradition. The application form on dhamma.org asks about physical health, pregnancy, any past or present mental-health problems (it names significant depression or anxiety, panic attacks, manic depression and schizophrenia), alcohol or drug use in the past two years, and prescribed medication. The Code of Discipline explains why: even when someone's mental health is stable, old symptoms may resurface during or after the course, and conditions in remission may return. It says the meditation is not a substitute for medical or psychiatric treatment and is not recommended for people with significant mental-health issues. The Q&A adds that teachers and volunteers are not medical, psychological or counselling practitioners. Someone going through a difficult period can apply, describe their circumstances, and the centre will advise.

Insight Meditation Society (IMS). Its retreat FAQ says that after considerable recent trauma, or with significant depression or anxiety or strong PTSD, a silent retreat may not be appropriate at that point in your life. IMS says it cannot provide medical or psychological care, and asks retreatants who see a therapist to tell them about the retreat and follow their recommendations.

Press reports and the organisers' response

In 2024 the Financial Times and Goat Rodeo released Untold: The Retreat, a podcast by reporter Madison Marriage about serious distress at courses in Goenka's tradition. As reported by NPR, it criticised screening that relies on self-reported forms, advice to keep meditating through severe distress, and discouragement from leaving early. In a written statement, the director of one centre in British Columbia said staff assess applicants and try to dissuade people who are not ready, and that "these courses are not for everyone. We take the safety and well-being of every student in our care extremely seriously." Reporting of this kind documents individual cases; it cannot show how often they happen.

Practical steps

• Be complete on the application. Include past conditions as well as current ones, and all medication. The form exists so the centre can advise you. If you take medication, talk to your doctor before the course, and don't stop a medicine without medical advice.
• Talk to your doctor or therapist before applying if you have a history of mental-health problems or trauma, or are going through a hard time now.
• Speak up during the course. The Code of Discipline says students in Noble Silence may still speak with the teacher and the management. On Goenka courses you can see the teacher at the daily question times, and the Code asks students to raise doubts with the teacher rather than let them grow. Say plainly if something frightens you or does not settle.
• If you are thinking of leaving, talk to the teacher first. Goenka-tradition courses ask students to stay for the whole course, but the organisers also say they are not medical practitioners. A medical problem needs a doctor.
• Watch for effects afterwards. dhamma.org warns that symptoms can resurface after a course, not only during it. If something persists after you are home, see a doctor.

The health questions on the Goenka application, and what to prepare, are set out in before your first course; shorter answers are in the FAQ.